As mobile phones and other mobile electronic devices become more technologically advanced and include more features, the cost to purchase these mobile devices increases, as does the cost to replace them should they break. To prophylactically protect such devices from damage or breakage, protective cases have been devised to reduce the risk that a mobile device breaks should it be dropped or otherwise exposed to an impact force.
In particular, materials such as polycarbonate, thermoplastic polyurethane, and silicone are common materials found in mobile device cases. These materials are either molded or otherwise incorporated into the mobile device case to either provide stability to the case, or to cushion the mobile device within the case during an impact event. Independent of which materials comprise a mobile device case, the amount of impact protection afforded by a housing that retains the mobile device remains constant. Short of surrounding the entire housing with an additional layer of material, such as silicone, which makes any case heavier and bulkier, the user cannot customize the amount of impact protection a particular case provides, without significantly changing the appearance, weight, and size of the case.
Indeed, depending on the circumstances, the user of a mobile device case may desire greater or lesser impact protection. For example, a user of the case may want greater impact protection while rock climbing and lesser impact protection during everyday use. Current mobile device cases, however, fail to provide any amount of customizable impact protection that does not dramatically change the appearance of the case and/or requires the user to carry large materials sized to fit over a particular case.